Help clean up Christchurch's riverbanks

More than 156 kilometres of Christchurch riverbanks are in for the ultimate autumn spruce up this year, with the annual Mother of All Clean Ups locked in for Saturday, May 13.

Hundreds of volunteers will line the estuary, and Heathcote and Avon rivers, as part of the annual Mother of All Clean Ups event.

Christchurch's riverbanks will be the target of a massive clean-up.

Tanya Jenkins from the Avon-Heathcote Estuary Ihutai Trust said the clean-up, held on the eve of Mother’s Day every year, was an opportunity to give a gift to Mother Nature.

"We were thrilled to see such an enormous turn out of caring people last year. Close to 1300 members of the public tidied 156 kilometres of river bank and estuary edge."

Several tonnes of rubbish were collected including plastic bags, food wrappers, straws, bottle tops, a large number of old TV's and computers and even a complete sheep carcass!

“We are hoping that we collect less this year as the aim of the event is to raise awareness of the issue and for individuals to take responsibility for the careful disposal of rubbish.”

The two-hour clean up kicks off at 10am, with volunteers urged to register via a website prior to the event, though people can simply turn up on the day.

For information on the locations and clean up see these websites: Lower Avon, the Estuary and the Heathcote.

Last year more than 50 community groups joined the clean-up. The event will also be supported again this year by City Care who would provide resourcing and logistics and manage the removal and dumping of the rubbish collected.